FAQS / Why United Restoration?

What is the main reason we should use United Restoration, Inc.?

United Restoration, Inc. is owned by Joe and Patricia Pino who have been established on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware since 1981. Locally owned and operated, along with son Joe Pino, Jr., we are a family company that instills our everyday values into our vendors and employees to ensure you receive the delicate attention you may need in what could be the most devastating of times.

Are you licensed and insured?

We are properly licensed and insured in Maryland and Delaware and have been thriving on our growing reputation for over 30 years, handling thousands of homes and businesses from large commercial/residential fires and sprinkler line breaks to leaky water heaters and moldy crawlspaces. We understand this can be a stressful time and a complicated process, but we are here for you to properly restore your property and provide you with a one-stop service, alleviating the stress and complications.

What are your hours for emergency services?

We are available 24/7 so please call right away for emergency services or to schedule a no obligation inspection or quote at (443) 727-3307 or urtherightchoice.com.

What is the insurance process?

When an insurance claim occurs, it can be complicated and time-consuming. We understand your time is important which is why we handle the claims process for you while keeping you informed along the way. Below are a few of the many items we handle during the insurance claim process. Please ask questions as each claim and insurance company is different and therefore the process will not be the same on every claim. We:

1. Respond immediately 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
2. Document moisture readings, initial damage upon arrival, photos, etc. which can be the most important information to a successful claim process.
3. Monitor job progress, take notes, photos and documents as needed.
4. Communicate with the insurance company on scope of work so that they will be informed of the damages prior to their arrival.
5. Write estimates for emergency work and repairs with the most widely used estimating software by insurance companies, Xactimate. Not only do we use Xactimate, but we were in the industry prior to the software’s existence, and we were among the first companies to start using the estimating program.
6. Work on behalf of the customer to get a fair agreed price with the insurance company quickly, which is our specialty. Over 35 years working on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, we have established a trusting relationship with many of the adjusters and agents and we have the knowledge of how to work with the insurance company on items such as mold/mold coverage, asbestos, lead, code ordinance coverage, sewage back up limits, state condo laws, etc. This is the process which can hold up the job for weeks or even months if you are not familiar with the ins and outs of the policies and insurance claim process, but we have got this covered for you!
7. Reconstruct/restore the property with our experienced construction team. After many years of working in construction and the restoration industry, we have created a team of employees and subcontractors who we believe are the best in the industry. We have a large pool of preset quality resources so that we can properly take care of all of our customers.The reconstruction process includes working with individual condo owners and insurance policies to move personal contents to storage, cleaning of personal contents, covering upgrades/improvement by homeowners, coordinating job completion dates with individual homeowners, and much more! We work with the homeowner/unit owner until the job is 100% complete and to their satisfaction!
8. Complete the work in accordance with the insurance company’s agreed figures and we also have the capital to continue to work while waiting for the insurance company to release the insurance funds.
9. Work with the insurance company to get the depreciation released to ensure you are paid in full 100% of the agreed funds.
10. Have each customer sign off on a certificate of satisfaction so that there is no question that we have a satisfied customer!

What are your resources?

In any type of disaster or even everyday business, you will want to ensure your restoration contractor has enough resources to properly handle all of your properties. If you are a property manager, insurance agent, or realtor, it will be much easier to manage insurance claims if you have one restoration contractor on 20 jobs instead of 10 or 20 contractors on 20 jobs. If you are a homeowner/unit owner, you will want to ensure your restoration contractor can handle your project along with all the other projects they have going on. It is also very important that if you can find a company like United Restoration, Inc. that they will be able to handle the job from start to finish instead of having 2 different companies working on the same property, as this only complicates the process.

When we have a relationship with a company, it is our obligation to properly respond to our customer in their time of need and we have the resources to follow thru with this commitment. Below is a list of some of our most important resources which allows us to run a successful and full service restoration company:

1. Employees: A quality company starts with quality staff. We treat each of our employees as though they are family as we understand they will be the most valuable resource to our company in everyday work schedules and especially in times of disasters. During the 2014 winter freeze, every employee and owner, were working almost 80 hours a week to coordinate and mitigate all of the properties we were called into for pipe freeze water damages. Each employee on the construction team has been trained in water mitigation as well so that when we have a disaster hit our area, we will be ready with qualified staff that is able to manage a mitigation job from start to finish.
2. Equipment: A restoration company can only be as large and efficient as its equipment resources. Outside of the equipment that we own, we have a relationship with a local equipment rental supplier that we have exclusive rights to in times of disaster which fills up more than one tractor trailer. When Super Storm Sandy hit the East Coast, we had an additional 2 tractor trailer loads of equipment from Texas delivered and stationed right in the heart of Ocean City. We still have good relations with our Texas supplier and we stay in contact with them on a regular basis. We have never ran low on equipment whether its dehumidifiers, fans, generators, etc. as we prep our suppliers when needed prior to a disaster or freeze occurring.
3. Capital: In order to be a successful restoration company, you need to have capital to keep your jobs moving. We understand that buildings and owners may not have the capital needed to keep a claim moving forward while waiting for the insurance funds, but we have the capital to keep jobs going while waiting for the insurance draw. We will also communicate with the insurance agent, insurance adjuster and/or insurance carrier to make sure the funds are not held up longer than necessary. We have seen many companies over the past 30 years come and go as they didn’t have the capital to keep up with a large fluctuation of jobs, as it is hard to stay properly staffed to handle all your customers while being cost efficient.